This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Scroll compressors are used in applications such as refrigeration systems, air conditioning systems, and heat pump systems to pressurize and, thus, circulate refrigerant within each system.
As the scroll compressor operates, an orbiting scroll member having an orbiting scroll member wrap orbits with respect to a non-orbiting scroll member having a non-orbiting scroll member wrap to make moving line contacts between flanks of the respective scroll wraps. In so doing, the orbiting scroll member and the non-orbiting scroll member cooperate to define moving, crescent-shaped pockets of vapor refrigerant. A volume of the fluid pockets decreases as the pockets move toward a center of the scroll members, thereby compressing the vapor refrigerant disposed therein from a suction pressure to a discharge pressure.
During operation, lubrication is provided to many of the moving components of the scroll compressor in an effort to reduce wear, improve performance, and, in some instances, to cool one or more components. For example, lubrication in the form of oil may be provided to the orbiting scroll member and to the non-orbiting scroll member such that flanks of the orbiting scroll spiral wrap and flanks of the fixed scroll spiral wrap are lubricated during operation. Such lubrication may be returned to a sump of the compressor and in so doing may come in contact with a motor of the compressor, thereby cooling the motor to a desired temperature.
While lubrication is typically used in a scroll compressor to improve performance and longevity, such lubrication is typically separated from vapor refrigerant located within the compressor to improve compressor performance and efficiency.